Slamming Door and Not Looking Back

The 35 year veteran teacher, 57 years old is walking out the door.  He has been called ineffective one too many times by his "teenage" inexperienced supervisor.  The supervisor, certified in the subject with weekend courses, credits earned with borrowed papers.   Echoes of her bragging about never buying a book still ring in every one's ears.  The supervisor who even got into education through a back door after failing in the business world and failing the licensing exam before being tutored by a teacher the supervisor now holds in disdain.

Let's face it, every teacher has their faults, even this one.  But, this teacher has what the supervisor lacks-experience and heart.  The teacher understands what the students need and works tirelessly to help them be the best they can be.  The teacher doesn't believe in coaching during exams or in doing credit recovery assignments for the students.  The teacher knows the regulations and tries to make sure they are enforced.  The teacher is everything the supervisor does not want in a teacher.

The teacher is walking out the door at the end of June, never to return to the school again.  There will be no party or farewell lunch.  The teacher has had it

Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a little boy who dreamed about becoming a teacher.  He wasn't too smart of a little boy but he muddled through college and managed to get a teaching job through some back door program.  The problem was the boy was not a very good teacher.  He barely understood the material and was not able to get the material across to his students.  Luckily for this little boy the Principal of the school did not care.  The Principal decided the best way to handle the situation was to make the little boy the assistant principal of that department.  The Principal knew the little boy would not be able to help new teachers (or any teachers) but that did not matter.  The little boy was now in place to do the job the Principal wanted--that of harassing senior teachers and getting them to leave voluntarily or by force.

The little boy had trouble getting the license he needed to keep the position.  It took multiple times for him to pass the exam but, like college, he eventually got through.  Meanwhile he became more and more stressed by the senior teachers in his department.  They knew his was incompetent and inexperienced and he hated anyone seeing the true him.  The little boy started going after these teachers by making sure they had different preps every semester, courses they never taught and had no ready material for.  Then he started writing letters (with grammatical mistakes).  He stacked classes with the most difficult students so these teachers would have poor results and he made nasty comments to them and about them in front of colleagues and students.

The little boy felt loved, not by the students or the teachers, but by the Principal.  He had power.  He was making the lives of others as miserable as he could.  The little boy was very happy.

If this fairy tale ended now, the little boy would be very happy, but alas, that will not happen.  Eventually there will be a new Principal, maybe even one with standards and the little boy will be put in his place.  The teachers being harassed are strong.  They will stay and fight.  They will not let the little boy win.